


The Statistical Probability of Love At First Apocalypse

by RipFandomTrash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Tragedy, Gay, Gay Keith, Haven't decided who, I really had an urge to write this. So Yeah, I won't COMPLETELY thrash on Lance this time, I'll post when I can, It's me so someone will probably die., M/M, Maybe. - Freeform, No idea how long it'll be, Not that you should be surprised, They're badasses btw, Zombies, apocalypse au, bi lance, let me know what you think, please comment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-04-01 00:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RipFandomTrash/pseuds/RipFandomTrash
Summary: The apocalypse has been in full shit storm for almost six months. Keith, his brother Shiro, their friends Matt, Katie (aka Pidge), and an ally they picked up along they way, Allura, are doing their best to survive. Other survivors are often less than friendly and more than one group has been split. Will one rescue mission change everything for their small group?





	1. I'm going to regret you.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super nervous about writing this to be honest. I would like all the feedback you guys can give me and any ideas you guys would like to see, send them my way PLEASE! Feel free to comment, constructive criticism helps more than you realize.

Under any other circumstances, the tan skinned, brown messy haired man on the sand covered floor would have been beautiful. The light filtering in from the broken glass window highlighted his soft rosy lips and the rise in his brow, made his skin glow a honey gold. His hair deemed a chocolate dream, except right now, his hair matted with blood, his lip fat and split, and his right eye swollen shut and black. The dark blue shirt across his back was in tatters, ribbons at best. This beautiful man, hands tied behind his back, was going to be the worst mistake Keith had made yet. Rescue missions, though necessary, were never pleasant, especially when the rescue target was a half dead stranger being held captive by a rival group of survivors. Apocalypses had a strange way of bringing people together. Especially with a zombie at damn near every turn.  
A gentle tap to the strangers cheek confirmed his suspicions. Yep. Out like a light. Well. Out like a light, like the power, like water systems. Fuck. Out like the rest of the damn world. With a soft sigh, Keith slipped his arm under the males side and hoisted him up and over his shoulder, setting his balance off a bit to the left, his blade arm still free. Creeping back up the hallway in which he’d come, a swift turn to the right led him into the side hall he’d entered from. Maybe formerly being a teenage escape artist had been a blessing from the pre-apocalypse. Escaping mostly from his foster parents but nonetheless. Carefully setting the other male against the wall, Keith lifted himself up to look out the window frame and to the dry ground below. The removed window pane sat where he’d left it, leaning against a tree and out of sight to anyone unknowing. Yknow. Aside from the gaping hole in the wall about ten feet off the ground.  
Once satisfied the area was clear of Z’s(Zombies), Keith gave the stranger a long, thoughtful look, his lips twisting a bit. Well. If he’s out cold he won’t feel the drop. Besides, it wasn’t THAT high...hopefully. Heaving Lance up as high as he could, and with a bit of struggle, Keith slowly lowered Lance out the window, keeping his grip on either of the male’s shoulders. Half hanging out the window himself, he let the K.Oed man’s body drop the remaining four, maybe five feet. Just as the thud of Lance hitting the ground hit his ears, shouting echoed down the hallway,  
“The prisoner! He’s gone! Find him before he escapes!” Frowning, he realized Lance had landed face down in the dirt, well...that’s gonna hurt later. Oops. Wiggling the rest of the way out and doing a rather agile flip, Keith landed on his feet, his boots crunching against the dry dirt. Kicking it into gear, he hustled to get the window pane back in place, having to use an empty crate to fully reach the frame. Leaving it partially unhooked, he scooped Lance up into a fireman carry and snuck as best he could back down the side of the building, from the looks of it, the building had once been a post office drop off. Now it looked like a run down bar. The distant crunching of boots told him daydreaming probably wasn’t a good idea.  
Clearing his thoughts, the long haired man trudged forward with his target and hustled back to the meeting point where Matt would be waiting for him with a getaway vehicle. He could only hope Matt had chosen something along the more durable line of make. Once the trees became more frequent, he tightened his hold on the unconscious man on his shoulders and began to pick up a quicker pace, almost hitting a run but having to stay on the slow side due to being top heavy. The air dripped with humidity, his eyelashes working overtime to prevent sweat from rolling into his eyes. Good god at this point Keith didn’t care what vehicle Matt picked out as long as it had air conditioning.  
Finally getting to a small overpass, Keith trudged up to the meeting point and let out a sharp toned series of whistles. A similar response hit his ears and an engine reved, yep. That was Matt. The vehicle that had started happened to be a VW Bug. Of all things. Stopping for a second, Keith rolled his eyes so hard his vision flashed. Car still running, Matt stepped out from the drivers side, grinning from ear to ear.  
“Look what the cat dragged in. AC’s on full blast Keith.”  
“Of all the cars you could have possibly hotwired you chose this one. Why in the hell….”  
Matt flashed a guilty look that last at most a second.  
“Hey man. At least the tank is full. And it’s pretty. Got a nice gunmetal gray to it.”  
Shaking his head, Keith walked over to Matt’s side of the car and helped get their rescue-ee into the back seat. Going back around the car, he plopped into the passengers seat, sighing in relief as the cool air hit his dirt covered face, sweat trails evident through the grime.  
“Lets get the hell outta here.”  
The duo clipped the seatbelts, yes even in the apocalypse, and floored it back to base, taking a couple of back routes in case they were followed. They had let Lance lay across the back seat, buckling the seat belts over his legs and chest to keep him from lurching forward and onto the floor. Even he looked more relaxed in the cooler air.


	2. Boring is best.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly just information, going to be boring until the next update, sorry its on the shorter side.

“Lets get the hell outta here.”  
The duo clipped the seatbelts, yes even in the apocalypse, and floored it back to base, taking a couple of back routes in case they were followed. They had let Lance lay across the back seat, buckling the seat belts over his legs and chest to keep him from lurching forward and onto the floor. Even he looked more relaxed in the cooler air.  
Upon finally making it back to the safe house, Keith and Matt had to show a bit of their flexible sides in order to get Lance back out of the car, and not drop him or further injure him. Splitting his weight between them, the duo hurried inside, a pair of Z’s beginning to amble their way. A heavy metal door swung open, Shiro and Pidge in full riot armor as they made swift work of the dead, the door staying open on its own. Once the group was inside, they carefully laid Lance down on what remained of a sofa.  
Allura briskly came out of a back room, relief plastered across her face. Kneeling next to Lance, she gently placed a hand on his cheek, checking what injuries she could see. At the bit of road rash on his face, she frowned and raised a suspicious eyebrow at Keith. Her voice soft, Allura spoke in an assertive tone.  
“Lance. Can you hear me? I need you to wake now. I need to know where Coran and Hunk are. Have you seen them?” At this point it was obvious to Keith why Allura had wanted to get Lance back. Two of her group were still missing. Lance at this point did little more than softly groan and let his head roll to the side. For now he wasn’t getting up. Not yet.  
The safe house as it was, was what remained of a once popular department store, complete with clothing, furniture, snacks and vending machines. When they’d found it, they’d been lucky. It had still been early on. Shiro had worked there previously so he had the keys to a storage room that only employees knew of. Shiro, Matt and Keith and hoarded damn near anything they could think of, clothing, a pair of fold out couches (that normally seated 3-4 people each), blankets, probably 20 packages of water bottles, each at 30 bottles, about a truck load of snacks-ranging from carmel corn to trailmix-, needless to say, if you could name it, they probably had it. The hundred square foot room was stacked and full to the brim. Keith and Pidge had taken it upon themselves to raid the weapon store down the street, each of them having filled a standard duffle bag with pistols, rifles, knives, around 200 rounds, a bow, crossbow, set of 20 stainless steel arrows, and Keith had managed to find a set of dual wielding swords with a holster, though Shiro wasn’t convinced he hadn’t stolen them from one of his (Keith’s) enemies. Everything they had was in that room, locked and bolted. The sofa Lance was on they’d snagged from a garage sale when reports of the outbreaks first started.  
Walking around the inside of the safe house, Keith inspected the steel shutters that locked over the windows and doors. The only ways in and out where through the back door they’d entered through or up and out through the roof. The roof exit had two ways to access it from the inside, either up the ladder in the storage room, or around the maintenance room and up the stairway. The only way down was a forty foot escape ladder for emergencies. Being such, it had a metal safety cage around it. Reaching out, Keith gently placed his hand against the warm metal, the sun still filtering light in between the slits but only enough for it to be considered light, the sun would be down within the next couple of hours. Keeping his voice soft but not completely quiet, he turned to the remaining people in the room.  
“We need to start getting ready for lights out. Sun’ll be down soon.”  
Shiro and Pidge nodded, helping Allura move Lance farther inside the building and closer to the storage room. Keith already knew he’d be taking the first shift of the night, Shiro would be second, Matt would be third, Allura would cover the rest of the morning and Pidge would make sure the boys were all awake in time to beat the heat and scavenge for extra gear. The riot gear they only had two sets of, more could definitely be useful.  
With everyone settled in and the oil lamps set out, one by the main hallway where the main watch was, and one in the prior break room, where the two fold out couches were as well as Lance, Keith grabbed a few water bottles and set the against the wall where he would be standing. He wouldn’t drink all of them, maybe one, but what he didn’t drink the others would on their shifts. Nothing exciting as it would be, really happened so water was an easier way to pass the time without making much noise. Keith personally would try to count how many drops were in the bottle, namely by dipping his finger in and letting the drop fall onto his tongue. The farthest he’d gotten was three hundred and forty eight before Shiro had come to replace him. At least that had been over half of the bottle. Checking in one last time, he snatched a knife from one of the tables and slid it into a holster on the outside of his thigh.  
Pidge and Allura were curled up on one of the couch beds, a thin blanket over each of them. Shiro and Matt were on the other, backs to each other and each with an arm under their head. Lance was still on the smaller couch that Shiro and Pidge had dragged back there.  
Giving a small nod, he wandered back down the hallway and stopped where he left the water bottles. Leaning back against the wall, he let out a slow breath and his shift began. 

Boring in an apocalypse was best. Boring meant no one died, no one was attacked and no one had to worry about being bitten. As was the entirety of the shift, Shiro and Matt had nothing to worry about as there was nothing more than the occasional Z that bumped against the windows while it wandered down the street. With everyone blurry eyed and yawning, Keith gave an almost missable smile. Even Lance was beginning to stir. Stretching his arms up over his head and twisting to pop his back, Keith got to his feet and stood next to Allura. Allura was eagerly hovering over the messy haired male, hoping that maybe today she would get more information on Hunk and Coran. And today, she was in luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for bearing with me, I will get a more exciting update in as soon as I can.


	3. Gonna be changed..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will be different if results are as needed.

I honestly need to know if this is something you guys want me to add more to, if I don't get enough feedback, or any this will likely be deleted.


	4. Damn Scientists.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More backstory.

And today, she was in luck.  
Watching with slight amusement, Keith pushed his hair out of his face as Lance began to come around, rubbing his eyes and giving a small wince at his still swollen face. The recognition of Allura hit him like a slap to the face as he let out a sharp gasp and threw his arms around the tanned woman who gave a small gasp at being grabbed so suddenly. Watching the embrace, he realized Lance had begun to cry, his breathing coming in harsh sobs. Allura gently brushed his hair back and softly shushed him before she spoke.  
“Lance. I’m so glad you’re alright. But I need to know, do you know where Coran and Hunk are?” Sniffling hard, Lance moved back a little and wiped furiously at his puffy eyes.  
“Yeah..at least I know where they were. The building we were holding out at, we split down towards the gorge, that was right before I was separated from them by Lotor’s group...that’s where they would be..they got away.” Allura kissed his forehead, a motherly act rather than anything intimate. The sound of her lips pulling back from Lance’s forehead snapped Keith out of his trance. God...his voice was even more attractive than Keith had thought it would be...damnit. Shaking his head to clear the thought, Lance’s attention went to him, causing the longer haired male to stop his movements.  
His eyes. Blue didn’t begin to describe them. Keith had gotten sucked into the depths of Lance’s ocean blue eyes. Exactly like the ocean, dark and light blue and white like the foam off the waves. He was drowning in this strangers eyes and for the first time in a long time, death didn’t sound so bad.  
“Allura...Who’s this?’ Forcing his eyes closed, Keith tuned back into the real world. The literal hell on earth. Allura gave Keith a look that Lance didn’t see, concern brimming her entire expression, the dark haired male rarely got distracted, at least not like this.  
“Lance, this is Keith. He’s the one that got you out of Lotor’s safe house.” Giving a small, silent nod of confirmation, Keith turned away and headed to the sounds of Shiro and Matt. Hearing the quiet words trail after him, he almost stopped, almost.  
“Thank you…”  
Close. Too close. The first time they’d even spoken, if you could call it that, and Lance was already too close to his emotional levels of comfort. Finding Shiro and Matt in the main store front, he gave a nod to the men he considered brothers.  
“We need to find more riot gear, right? At least that was the priority before we left.” Turning and giving quiet nods of their own, the duo looked behind Keith towards the breakroom, curious if the new arrival was up and moving. Pretending not to notice, Matt was the first to get the hint.  
“Yep. Still the plan. Pidge and I have already taken the liberty of checking out the map in the yellowpages book...it was kinda torn but we have a good idea of where to look. The police station sounds like a safe bet. If we’re S.O.L. there then we can always check the base at the mall...that’s where the army had set up before the government collapsed.”  
Shiro gave a small nod, whether it was in approval of the plan or distaste of their situation, Keith had no intention of deciphering.  
“Is it just going to be us again Matt? Or do I get the pleasure of having someone go with me that won’t pick a car that barely sits off the ground?” Crossing his arms, he looked at Shiro for a bit of help. Grinning, Matt clapped Keith on the shoulder and glanced at Shiro.  
“Awww I didn’t think the car was that awful. You didn’t complain about the air conditioning.” Frowning, Keith pulled his hair back and wrapped it with one of the hair ties on the counter, settling for a loose bun.  
“If you pick something that small again I will smother you.” Walking back to the storage room, he grabbed the minimal supplies that they tended to need and shoved them into a backpack that strapped across his chest and hips. Even though the pack only had a set of extra knives, two water bottles, a lighter and a family sized bag of trail mix, the extra weight made him nervous but at least it still had room for any extra supplies they could run across.  
Matt similarly pulled his hair back and grabbed a second small backpack that had the same set up as Keith’s minus the lighter and knives, instead he opted for almost fifty feet of rope and bolt cutters..  
Giving a nod to Shiro, Keith and Matt readied themselves at the back door where they’d come in the previous night. Keith grabbed his twin swords and holster, strapping it under the backpack. Waiting patiently, the duo made sure they had everything once more and looked at yellowpages map, three different backup routes had been highlighted in the even that things went bad.  
With Shiro now in riot armor and Pidge at the door to move in open and closed, everyone farther back tensed, some form of weapon in hand. Sunlight blinded them momentarily and the door squealed open, the snarls were instantaneous, Z’s pushing towards them though only a handful. Blades swinging effortlessly, many of them were dead the second Keith moved his arm, precise and very effective.  
Shiro spoke over the growls and noisey door, making sure they heard him.  
“If you both aren’t back by the time the sun starts to go towards the horizon, we’re coming to find you.” He knew the Matt shared the nod he gave, the pair rushing to get out the door and make sure their companions were safely concealed inside. Taking the first hundred yards just to run and make some distance, Keith followed Matt’s lead downtown. They didn’t slow until they were sure the Z’s had lost them and the police station was in sight.  
Sticking as close to any low cover as they could, Keith signaled to Matt for him to see if the front door was useable. Giving a nod in return, Matt crept up to the door, Keith covering him on the other side. Reaching out, Matt slowly turned the door handle, pulling the door towards him while Keith held his blades at the ready. When nothing came at them, Keith inched forwards into the doorway.  
Taking a long, slow, look around the building, it looked fairly empty save for the piles of scattered papers along the floor and some tipped over water coolers. Turning back to look at Matt over his shoulder, Keith pointed to the water coolers. Looking back the office like set up, he pointed to a door along the back wall. From the look of it, it lead to a separate hallway, one that with any luck, had a storage area and armory.  
Matt nodded once more and grabbed a stapler from a nearby desk. Holding his hand out for Keith to wait, he hurtled the stapler at the wall. Connecting with a loud crack, it clattered to the floor. The noise that followed was the exact reason Matt had tested it. Snarling bore down on their ears from the previous silence. By the sluggishness the Z had, it was obvious it hadn’t eaten in a while...Bringing his swords to his sides, Keith approached it slowly and whipped his arm around, taking its head of at the base of the neck and using the other blade to pierce through its soft skull.  
Muttering softly to himself, he looked around to make sure there weren’t anymore of the abominations.  
“Damn scientists couldn’t leave shit alone…” He could still hear the news reporters, excitedly talking about the new ‘Cure to aging’ that the CDC had helped develop. It was supposed to be a booster, an injection that kept the skin soft and smooth, kept the organs functioning at their best and increased the brain's’ ability to take in information and remember substantially more, altering the way the mind stored information. Keith had been one of the few, alone with the Holt siblings, that was extremely against it.  
What the scientists hadn’t taken account for. The long term side effects. The swollen gums, increase in hostile temperaments, and an inconceivable craving for human flesh. The only way to sate said cravings was to feed. The other major problem, the zombies weren’t your stereotypical walking dead menace. Everytime they fed, whatever they ate became a part of their body. If they ate someone’s arm for example, their own arms would become more useable, stronger.  
The only plus side, the Z’s didn’t realize this. Some would have legs strong enough to allow them to run, others had arms strong enough to pin and keep a fully grown man to the ground. Terrifying didn’t even brush the feelings that followed all the information.  
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Keith looked back at Matt who’d been silently watching him stare at the dead...thing. Letting out a small breath, Keith nodded and crept down to the far door, slowly peeling it open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you all think! Your feedback helps more than you know! <333


	5. When It Rains It Pours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Matt finish a supply run, finally head off to find Coran and Hunk and have their first personal encounter with Lotor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting there guys. Sorry it took me so long to update. I will be putting more into it asap.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Keith looked back at Matt who’d been silently watching him stare at the dead...thing. Letting out a small breath, Keith nodded and crept down to the far door, slowly peeling it open. At least this one was empty.   
With the rest of the rooms being clear, thankfully, the duo crept farther into the building until they made it to the locker rooms and armory as it would be. With the air conditioning having been out for so long the building’s air was stuffy, the showers in the locker room having mold on the ceilings from the moisture and lack of venting. The armory itself yielded a bit of frustration. The door seemed to have been bolted shut from the inside. It wasn’t the sort of shabby wooden door that could be kicked in either, in fact it happened to be a steel door with a sort of sliding door behind a mesh/metal netting at the top, center, of the door to act as a commune in case things for whatever reason went poorly in the station.   
Keith and Matt exchanged a quick glance before Keith nodded, stepping to the side of the door with one sword arm raised, covering his ears with his other hand and shoulder. Matt took a deep breath, coughing slightly at the must, and let out two rounds where the dead bolt and lock were. The rounds were enough to bring dust back up into the air, the pair covering their mouths in their elbows for a moment. With the door now free, it swung open in a slow almost lazy manner.   
The contents of the room were almost enough to make them wish they’d left it shut. Dead officers littered the inside of the room, a couple of Z’s laid withered into nothing on the floor and against the walls. The heat only made the rotting smell worse, Matt gagging for a moment. With a grim expression, Keith carefully pulled off one of the officers riot gear, praying that nothing was going to come off with the gear.   
By the time they’d peeled off three sets of riot gear, both of them had lost their stomach content, mouths dry and sour with the recent stomach contents. Dragging the gear back towards the entrance, Matt pulled out the rope and secured the pieces of gear together, each of them taking up a section of it and throwing what would loop into their bags, namely the helmets and arm covers. With two hours having past, it became sort of a mutual agreement to get back to the safe house before the heat got worse. It hadn’t even past noon and the heat was blistering. Even without a thermometer it was easy to tell it would be in the hundred’s again.   
Almost an hour later they’d returned back at the prior department store, leaving the riot gear in the front, upon them coming in, Lance and Shiro had covered their faces at the stench. Giving a shared expression of apology, Keith was the first to speak, “We’ll get the gear up to the roof. Maybe we have some sort of cleaner that will help aside from just airing it out for the next couple days. If we’re lucky it might even rain soon, there’s more moisture in the air today.” 

Well, Keith had been right about one thing, it had started raining after they got the gear on the roof, and three days later it still hadn’t stopped. With the constant downpour, the group still had yet to find Hunk and Coran. Currently they were circled around on the hide-a beds in the break room. 

“We’re running out of time. We don’t know how much longer the rain will last and they could be moving. I think we should just head out to the gorge, take a couple flashlights, take some knives, Keith, take your swords, and go find them.” Allura ran a stressed hand through her hair as she spoke, the weather obviously making her mood worse.  
Keith and Matt nodded their agreement and glanced around the room at the others. Really, it wasn’t his fault that his eyes kept catching on Lance, not when his face was healing and his mood was improving. That boys smile was a sight to be held, and cherished and damn well painted if that’s what it would take to be seen. Only this time, he didn’t look away fast enough, Lance even looked back, stared back. In a way it was like he’d really seen Keith for the first time, an eyebrow raising.  
But as quickly as the contact happened, Keith broke it, playing it off as a lost in thought, rather than lost in Lance. Clearing his throat, Keith stood up from the couch and paced for a moment before looking between Shiro and Allura.   
“I agree with Allura, if we want to find them while we’re still this close, we need to do it now. We can’t wait on the rain anymore.” Matt took the opportunity to stand as well, stating his agreement. A few seconds passed before Pidge stood up and scurried over to the storage room, coming back with a couple of flashlights, the thing was, she’d done something to them, the lights, when on, were a dark blue.   
“During some of my free time I found a way to make the light source invisible to the dead. They don’t have the brain support to see the lights at the frequency and with some feedback from the water, the rain won’t take down so much visibility, you’ll be able to see fine with the flashlight and it won’t be noticed by the dead...took a few tests but nothing to worry about.”   
Now the few hours Pidge had spent on the roof under a tent and rain tarp made a lot more sense, admittedly so did the Z’s with varying colors of lights in their eyes that he’d seen while on watch that had been coming from the roof while Pidge was up there.   
Taking one of the flashlights, he tested it weight in his hand and gave a satisfied nod. If all else failed at least he could use it to incapacitate a Z. Twisting his lips in thought, he strode over to where the riot gear hung, having had a full day to dry inside, at least now the rot smell wasn’t so nauseating. Matt followed suit and pulled on the chest piece, arm guards and shin covers.   
“Don’t put the helmet on. The moisture from the rain and your breath with fog up the visers, it’s already hard enough to see without that.” With his helmet halfway on his head, Keith let out a low sigh and bent over at the waist, tugging the piece from his hair and letting it thunk to the ground.   
With the armor on, flashlights in hand, a blade of some sort in the other, and their packs on, Keith and Matt headed up to the roof, figuring the ladder exit would be easier, at least they’d be able to see if there were any Z’s within the area. Panting softly, Keith looked over the edge of the building, no Z’s. Thank fuck for that. Taking a slower look around with the flashlight, Matt to his right, the area for once seemed vacant of the relatively sluggish hindrances.  
Having already wasted enough time, the duo half slid, half climbed down the ladder. The streets having shallow puddles in them almost all the way across. With both of them now on the ground, Keith and Matt headed west at a brisk jog, not wanting to waste energy running but not wanting to drag on their would be mission any longer than they had to. The plus side about the rain, at least it was warm enough that illness wasn’t a concern, the downpour only lessening the awfulness of the dryness of summer, the heat dampened per say but not fizzled out.  
By the time they could see the trail down to the gorge, their armor and clothing were drenched, the blood at least washed from their blades. If he was being truly honest with himself, the only thing Keith hated more than rain, was the cover it offered. No sooner had he felt the presences behind them, had a blade been held to his throat, a glance to the side revealed the same was happening for Matt.   
“Move, and I’ll slit your throat where you stand. That’s what happens to those who free my prisoners.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully next update I can get to the backstories some of you wanted, I have them written out in plot vomit form but not written into my....actual story? Idk what to call it currently but whatever. As always, please give me feedback, let me know if I missed any grammar or spelling errors, let me know if something confused you or if you need the sections broken down more to make easier reading. Thank you! <3


	6. The first snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Coran are reunited with Lance and Allura. Their backstories are brought in, at least partially, they begin preparing for colder weather. The first snow hits the ground and Lance and Keith have a bonding moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update was a lot longer than I intended to be honest. But here goes.

“Move, and I’ll slit your throat where you stand. That’s what happens to those who free my prisoners.” 

Keith could physically feel the color drain from his face, shit. He had been seen. Clearing his throat, he glanced over at Matt, a female with a long ponytail and a second female whose shoulders were broader than most males, had a hold of him, the latter holding the blade. 

Well. This was one of the worst things that could have happened when he thought about it. Now the question was ‘How were they going to get out of this without one of the bleeding out?’

The answer of course came much faster than he would have thought, a sort of bellowing battlecry came from behind them, the impact coming in a second later to both sets of captors, Matt and Keith also hitting the ground. The mud was going to be a pain to get out but at least the armor prevented a majority of road-rash. 

Scrambling to their feet, Keith and Matt whipped around to see a hunk of a male and a slightly older, middle aged at best, gentleman with a mustache that put most to shame. It was then that the brief description Allura had given them clicked. 

“Hunk! Coran!”  
The pair respectively turned to face them, verifying Keith’s thought process. 

“We came to find you! Allura sent us!” No sooner had he said Allura’s name did the older man beam with an odd sort of relief.  
“Well what are you waiting for!?”

The conversation came to a halt as the four on the ground, one of which Keith hadn’t seen before, likely because she was behind him, started to pick themselves up.

As if on cue, Matt, Keith, Hunk and Coran bolted back the way Matt and Keith had come. It wasn’t until they were within sight of the safehouse that Keith and Matt slowed, their heads pounding from the run, Hunk in much worse condition, his breathing at a wheeze, and Coran winded but not out for the count.

Coughing as he caught his breath, Keith used the butt-end of his sword to knock against the heavy door.   
“Shiro! Allura! We’re back!”  
A few seconds pasted and the large door was heaved open, Allura and Lance standing awestruck in the doorway as they took in Hunk and Coran. Allura let out a shrill sounding shriek and she launched herself into Coran, almost knocking the man over. Lance was silent as he briskly walked to Hunk, gripping the other males arm and pulling him into a half hug.   
“I missed you buddy. I’m so glad you’re alright.”  
With the rain still pouring, that was Shiro’s cue to drag everyone inside. 

\---

“So really it was more like we rescued them” Hunk joked, the words coming out in between laughter. Coran nodded his agreement while Keith and Matt rubbed the back of their necks in embarrassment. 

“What’s important is that you all made it back safely.” Stated Shiro. The group seemed to be much more at ease now, no one missing but the newness of Coran and Hunk still made Keith uneasy.   
“So..how did you four meet?” Keith directed the question to Coran but Lance was the first to answer, the blue eyed male beaming.  
“Hunk and I were friends back in Highschool and dormates up until the reports started…I met Allura through work, she was my boss at an older styled sort of restaurant. Honestly the best boss I ever had. She helped Hunk get a job there too.”  
At that point Allura spoke up, her tone soft and much warmer than it had been before.   
“And Coran is my uncle. He’s really been the only one there to look out for me after...After my father passed.” The last bit definitely dampened the mood, Keith’s eyes trailing down the floor.   
“Oh...I see. I’m sorry to hear about that.” 

Allura dismissed the apology gently while Hunk chimed in.   
“What about all of you? How did you all meet?” Shiro picked up on the conversation this time, his leader like personality shining through.   
“Matt and Pidge’s family took me in when I was younger. So I grew up with them. They’re like siblings to me. And a few years ago I took Keith in, caught him trying to steal from me after he ran away from his last foster family.”  
Keith let out a nervous chuckle, shaking his head at the memory.   
“I don’t think I’d ever been more scared as a child, when you grabbed my hand, that was very much still in your pocket. I thought you were going to break my arm.” At that point the dark haired male laughed, the sound not loud but something to be noted, and Lance definitely noticed.   
When Keith’s eyes trailed back over to Lance, for the first time he noticed that Lance had been looking first, with a sort of ‘Deer in the headlights’ expression.   
Hunk noticed Lance staring into space, not realizing that Keith was the targeted atmosphere, and gently pushed his friends arm.   
“Lance? You okay there buddy?”   
Lance shook his head slightly and turned to Hunk with a grin, “Couldn’t be better. Well. Not unless the apocalypse ended tomorrow. But. Y'know what I mean.”  
This brought a series of chuckles and bits of laughter from the rest of the group.  
-  
\---

As the weeks went by, the weather began to get worse. The rain wasn’t as frequent but when it did rain, it was cold, almost freezing. With the temperature dropping, their focus became less on food and armor and more on blankets and sources of heat.   
With Hunk came a new mind for Pidge to interact with for new ideas, Matt still pitching in where he felt it necessary. Their latest invention had been a sort of solar panel, except, it was circular and didn’t use heat. Instead it’s sensors picked up on the rain and occasional snowflakes that went down the fairly large tube, a more advanced set of sensorys measuring the energy created when the precipitants feel and collecting in a pan at the bottom, slits at the sides allowed it to drain but sensors in the pan measured the force that it impacted with and turned it into useable energy.   
This one of course was a prototype and still a work in progress but right now it was able to power a heated blanket on its own. Now they were working on improving the sensors and finding a way to store the energy they didn’t use. 

With energy being worked on, Keith, Shiro and Lance had been focused on insulating the more open areas of the once store. The less heat they lost to the windows and doors, plus poorly insulated walls, the better. So far they’d mostly used newspaper and magazines to get a few layers along the walls and windows.

Of all the things that Keith had thought of being useful in an apocalypse, a fabric store hadn’t been one of them until now.

Within two more weeks, they’d gotten enough fabric to insulate the windows and walls, with the help of a nail gun, and enough fabric to start insulating the floors. Matt, Lance and Keith had also managed to find snow pants and boots for everyone at a sportsman warehouse, at least the cold had slowed down the Z’s a bit. The place had been crawling with the dead. 

Their work had paid off, Pidge and Hunk had found a way to produce energy in a silent manner and not a day too late. With two space heaters hooked up and a small sort of chimney that was mainly for aesthetic purposes in the store, at least it had actually gone all the way up and been vented.  
The same day they’d gotten everything up and running, it started snowing. Between the interactions and small conversations they’d had, snow was the first thing Lance had said that he’d loved.   
“I can’t explain it. Just the way the snow covers everything. It’s like it’s reborn in a way. The world I mean. It’s beautiful Keith. Plus you can have fun in it! Like making snow angels or having a snowball fight. You can’t have a waterball fight….well. Okay I guess there’s water balloons but its not the same.” 

The rest of what the tanned male had said, Keith didn’t hear. He was far to busy taking in the beauty of the man before him, how something so simple opened up a world of joy that was sorely missed in their world now.

What came out of his mouth next, he honestly wasn’t sure where it had come from.   
“Well. Let’s go out tonight and play in the snow then. There should be enough for a snow angel or something by then.” Whatever had driven Keith to make the offer, was well worth it when Lance beamed a response.  
“Really!? That sounds like a blast!” 

By the time the group had eaten and all but Shiro, Lance and Keith had gone to bed, the ground had almost a foot of snow covering it. With Shiro being the one on first watch, Keith figured it best to inform him of their plan to play in the snow. 

Approaching the older male, Keith spoke softly. “Hey, Shiro. Lance and I are going to go enjoy the snow for a little while okay? We’ll stay within earshot.” Shiro smiled warmly at the male and gave a nod of confirmation.  
“Alright. Just be safe.” He gave Keith a knowing look, causing the males ears to warm before he turned away towards Lance, the two already in their snow gear.  
“We’ll be back before too long. “ Keith went out the door first, blade in hand with Lance close behind him. The snow made opening the door a little harder than normal with the extra resistance but not impossible.

“It’s nice that the Z’s are so lethargic with the cold. They’re not being...Z’s.” Lance chuckled softly at his observation. Keith only nodded his response, the cold nipping at his face and causing him to sniffle slightly as his body adjusted to the temperature change.  
With the fresh snow crunching beneath their boots, the pair walked down the street a little ways until it opened up. Taking in the view of the snow, Keith hadn’t been paying much attention to Lance at the particular moment, not until something very cold and wet splattered against the back of his head, causing him to gasp. Frantically shaking the cold thing off the back of his neck, he whirled around to glare at Lance, the action more a challenge than anything.   
From there it was an all out war, the pair ducking behind cars and the occasional tree to avoid a snowball to the face. In their competitive natures there was no reason for this fight to go on any less than an hour until their faces were read from running around like maniacs and from the cold but sweating nonetheless.  
By the time they’d opted to call it a draw, the two were panting heavily and shaking on a truce, leaning against an abandoned care to stay upright.   
“You’re a pretty good shot,” Commented Keith.  
“You’re not half bad yourself Mullet.” Lance laughed softly and plopped down in the snow, laying on his back as he spread out, moving his limbs to make a snow angel. 

Keith stepped back to give Lance the desired space, grinning as he watched the childish action. When Lance finally finished he sat up and held his arm out for Keith to take and help him up.   
“Help me up, it’s gotta be perfect.”  
Keith grinned more and took Lances hand. The moment he’d grabbed Lance’s hand, a Z stretched out from under the car, breaking down a wall of snow and attacking Lance’s leg. Too fast. It was happening too fast. The Z, the snow, the ice underneath, Lance’s scream, the blood that was dying the snow faster than Keith could think. Dropping Lance’s arm, he grabbed his knife and drove it into the Z’s skull, killing it.   
“Lance! Lance look at me! You’re going to be okay.” The males blue eyes were wide with panic, the pain evident on his face. Keith leaned down and picked Lance up in a sort of bridal style, his hand tightly covering the wound to try and slow the bleeding from Lance calf.   
At least they’d stayed close to the safe house. It wasn’t more than a block away. Running with Lance in his arms, Keith knew they were still within earshot.  
“SHIRO! SHIRO OPEN THE DOOR!”   
No sooner had he started yelling had the door opened, at first Shiro was smiling, but then he noticed Lance and the blood and the snow the was being stained with their every step.   
Once they were inside it was a race against the clock, the commotion of course had caused everyone to start to stir, coming to see what was happening.  
Lance was on the ground, Keith and Shiro frantically cutting off his snow pants and the sweats underneath, within seconds they had a tourniquet around Lance’s leg at the knee, the skin turning purple from the intense pressure.  
When they got to the wound, Keith felt the bile rising in his throat. Oh god. It was bad. It was bloody and torn and his fault. God this was his fault. Exchanging a glance with Shiro, a nod was the only confirmation he got before Shiro was holding Lance’s face to make him look to make him understand what was happening what had to happen.  
Coran was there now, folding a leather belt and placing it between Lance’s teeth, forcing it there so Lance wouldn’t bite off his own tongue.   
He knew what he had to do. God he wish he didn’t have to. Holding the limb still with one hand, Keith drew out one of his swords in the other and brought it down hard about an inch above the wound. The cut was clean, but everything around him was ringing, the sounds pounding against his ears. The fireplace was still burning and now Shiro was there, was using a hot piece of metal to cauterize the wound, to stop the bleeding, Lance was screaming still, the leather making a squealing sound as he bit down.   
At the point Keith knew the pain was too much, knew that Lance couldn’t handle it, and he was right because as the thought hit him, Lance passed out. With Lance out for the count, it made the process easier, Shiro was shouting orders, things were moving around him, Lance’s leg was cleaned with rubbing alcohol and saline that they’d had in the medical supplies, it was wrapped at the stump...the stump with fresh gauze and the tourniquet was still there. Had to be there still until the wound had some time to heal. If it was removed now the blood flow would be too much and the pain would worsen.

By now Shiro was working on moving Lance to the break room, they needed to lay him down and get his leg propped up. As the numbness drained from his mind, Keith blinked a few times and got up.  
“Here...let me help.” As he went to reach for Lance, Allura grabbed his arm.  
“You’ve done enough.” Her tone was harsh, stinging him in a way. Without responding, he let his arms drop and let her take over, the pale haired woman giving him a cold stare. 

Sinking back onto the floor, Keith didn’t know what else to do other than stare at the pool of blood on the cement floor….the partial limb that lay in it. At that moment he lost his stomach contents, retching something vicious out of his system.   
A set of hands pulled his hair back out of his face and it wasn’t until Hunk spoke that Keith recognized him.   
“It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.” Hearing the gentle males words, he retched again, nothing leaving his system this time and let out a harsh sob. “I’m sorry...god I’m so sorry...I didn’t mean….I didn’t want….I’m sorry…” He kept repeating the words over and over until he could speak anymore, the tears coming to hard for his voice to come through.   
At some point Hunk and Matt had helped him calm down enough to function and clean up the mess in the entryway. They’d also made careful, pained work of disposing of the severed limb, burying to keep it away from the dead in the frozen earth.

Even after he’d changed out of his bloody clothes and took a couple sips of water, Keith couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Lance, seeing his eyes wide with panic and pain, the wound, the bite. It was too much. Now he was sitting against the wall with Shiro, helping him keep watch.   
The silence on Shiro’s end was comforting more than anything, he knew that Shiro didn’t blame him, no matter how much he blamed himself. Closing his eyes, Keith swallowed hard and leaned his head against the wall, his eyes opening again in the same moment as he stared at the ceiling.  
“Keith. This wasn’t your fault. This is just one of those...those really honestly fucked up things that happens, that’s out of our control. I’m sure Allura will realise that. She’s upset. All of us are in shock right now. But Lance is strong. He’s going to make it through this. All of us are.”   
Nodding silently in response, Keith shifted so his back was flat against the wall and turned his head towards Shiro.  
“Shiro...what if...what if he hates me now...No matter who thinks it’s my fault...he’s the only one that I really care about hating me….” He sniffled harshly, fighting back the tears again. This had been such a great day. They’d finally had a bonding moment and it had been ruined by the Zombie Apocalypse. By one unfairly placed brain eating waste of space.

To this Shiro didn’t have a response. It wasn’t his promise to make. All he could do now was offer an arm to Keith, pulling the younger male closer in an attempt to comfort him. A moment later Keith was crying again, he couldn’t hear it, but he could tell by the way his body shook. At some point he guessed the younger male had fallen asleep because the harshness stopped and his breathing eventually evened out, exhaustion having pulled him under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think please! Was there anything that was confusing? If so how can I improve it? Is there something you want more of? What do you think went well? Please any and all feedback helps! I can't tell what you guys have read so comments are the only way I can get feedback on this. <3333


	7. Snagged in the undertow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wants to talk to Keith, a bit more of the past comes out, and a confession is coughed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want this to drag on too long and become boring??? So I might wrap it up in the next chapter or so? This work won't have any more than 10 chapters tops. -Note that I don't usually proofread so please tell me if there are any errors

“Shiro...what if...what if he hates me now...No matter who thinks it’s my fault...he’s the only one that I really care about hating me….” He sniffled harshly, fighting back the tears again. This had been such a great day. They’d finally had a bonding moment and it had been ruined by the Zombie Apocalypse. By one unfairly placed brain eating waste of space.

To this Shiro didn’t have a response. It wasn’t his promise to make. All he could do now was offer an arm to Keith, pulling the younger male closer in an attempt to comfort him. A moment later Keith was crying again, he couldn’t hear it, but he could tell by the way his body shook. At some point he guessed the younger male had fallen asleep because the harshness stopped and his breathing eventually evened out, exhaustion having pulled him under.

The days that followed were rough to put it gently. Lance had pulled through with the help of antibiotics and painkiller, Allura and Hunk constantly dotted on him, making sure he had food and water, that his dressing was kept clean, that he was comfortable.

It was more than Keith could say he was doing for himself. The best he’d managed since the incident was two painfully slowly eaten packages of trail mix and a water bottle that Matt and Shiro forced down him daily. 

Starving himself was far from Keith’s intention, the problem mainly being that any sort of protein made him gag, if he closed his eyes too long he’d start to panic again. Matt and Shiro had been helping him keep watch at night, except when either one came to replace him, he stayed against the wall.

A few times he’d pulled all nighters, staring at the cement flooring while Shiro or Matt draped a blanket over him. If he did sleep it was only because he was too exhausted to fight it anymore. 

His pattern of slow self destruction didn’t stop until Allura had tapped his shoulder gently one especially cold morning.  
“Lance wishes to speak with you.” Her voice was soft, the venom long since drained and now replaced by a small but dark ring under her eyelids, evidence of her efforts but not nearly as bad as his own.

Even after she spoke, it was all Keith could do to stare at her blankly, almost as if she were muttering a different language.   
‘This is it….this is where he screams at me, where he tells me how badly I screwed up on this one...where the final shoe drops..’  
Blinking a few times, he pushed himself up and out of his stupor, wiping incredulously at his eyes and cheeks, trying to get his face to work properly.  
Swallowing thickly, he kept his eyes down as he went into the break room, stopping at one of the chairs that sat almost six feet away from the couch Lance was sitting upright on. 

Sitting with his elbows on his knees, Keith covered his mouth with his hands, his eyes closed as his right knee began to tremble anxiously. It wasn’t until Lance spoke that he allowed himself to even look at the male.

“It’s not your fault….” Four words. That’s all it took for Keith to break down, a small sob leaving his lips as he covered his mouth with one hand, the other harshly wiping at the tears that rushed from his eyes. 

“Keith...buddy. You look worse than I do….” Lance made a small sound of amusement, his expression somber as he tried to joke with the dark haired male. 

Taking in a shaky breath, Keith released a sort of sigh-ish laugh, sniffling as he let his eyes wander over Lance, starting at his somehow cheerful blue eyes. This man had just lost part of his leg, literally lost a piece of himself and was somehow still able to smile, to look at Keith and register him as a friend and not at fault. 

“I’m sorry...Lance I’m so...so sorry.” Keith wiped at his eyes again and shook his head softly. Lance watched him silently for a moment before he spoke. 

“I know you are...but so am I,” at this the raven haired man froze, “Keith. You didn’t mean for this to happen. And it took a toll on you too..I don’t blame you for this at all...there’s nothing you could have done. If anything, I should be thanking you. You saved my life. If you hadn’t acted so quickly I’d be dead, or worse undead..”

Blinking the shock out of his expression, Keith found himself relaxed, his trembling had stopped and his stomach settled for the first time in almost two weeks. “I…” Despite himself, Keith couldn’t find the words to express how he felt, the shock and relief were too much for him to process verbally. 

As their silence drew on, not quite tense but not far from awkward either, Allura popped her head into the doorway.  
“Shiro, Coran and myself will be going out, we need to find some more medical supplies. I don’t expect you’ll see Pidge, Matt or Hunk for a while yet either, they’ve started working on a sort of prosthesis for you,” She glanced to Keith as she spoke, “They’re also working on a sort of walkie-talkie, I think it’s supposed to send out a location in the long run…”

 

Without waiting for so much as an ‘Okay’, Allura was gone again. Keith let out a slow breath, running his hands through his hair as he stood up. 

“I’ll give you some alone time then, is there anything I can do for you before I..go?” Honestly he wasn’t sure where he was going to go, definitely not outside, maybe somewhere else in the once store, maybe he’d skim through the useless decorations in the front half of the store. Lance blinked a couple of times at the question, saying nothing, that was all Keith needed to turn towards the door.

He’d been midstep to the doorway when Lance spoke. It wasn’t a yell by any means, it was soft, almost like he hadn’t meant to say anything.  
“Wait…,” With Keith frozen in the doorway, he turned to look back at the tan male. “Sit with me?”   
Giving a small, singular nod, Keith carefully shuffled over to the couch, sitting on Lance’s left side. Closing his eyes, he let his head rest against the back of the couch. Tired...he was so so tired. With a majority of the stress gone from his body, the past ten days were catching up with him. Lance’s voice was the only thing that kept him awake.

“I believed you.” Opening his eyes once more, Keith turned his head in question. “When you said I was going to be okay...I believed you. I knew you weren’t going to let me die...It was something in your eyes...something that made me believe that you meant it, that it wasn’t just something you said because I was bitten...I’ve only seen one other person with that look…” Lance drew in a shaky breath as he spoke, shifting carefully so he was angled more towards Keith, “My momma. It was the last thing she said to me when the Z’s got into our house…”

Keith didn’t need to hear more to know what happened. He gave a soft, solemn nod, resting his hand on Lance’s shoulder apologetically. Of all the times to be tongue tied, now was definitely one of the most annoying. He needed to say something, anything to make Lance feel better. Well...if he was going to confess anything, it may as well be now.   
“Your eyes….I almost drowned in them once.” Lance furrowed his brows together in confusion, “If you have a stach you may as well share it with me now..”   
Keith laughed quietly at the comment before shaking his head. “No. No...I just. Mm.. God I probably sound like an idiot, “Keith shook his head again and rubbed the back of his neck, “Lance….damn...Why is this so hard?......Life. It’s too damn short okay? The first time I met you, actually met you. It was like I was sinking, like I was drowning in you, in the depths of your eyes. And for the first time in months death sounded like it wasn’t so bad.. I wanted the snow to be perfect, to be that last stupid little step of connecting. I wanted to be brave and ask you out...and then...then shit got bad and the Z...fuck...I know this is lame and I know I sound stupid but you probably believed me because there was no way I was going to let you die without knowing you. Without being able to hold you...and now there’s no way you’re going to do this with me because I don’t deserve it...you’re so...you’re so unbelievably perfect and it kills me...I want you to live the rest of your life on this miserable world being as happy as you possibly can be..with me...I want to help you and protect you, I can’t let anything happen to you ever again...I can’t-” Keith had been going on for minutes, the ramble suddenly cut off by Lance. By Lance’s lips. By Lance’s lips covering his own, oh god. Lance was kissing him.

With his eyelids fluttering closed, Keith gently rested a hand on Lance’s cheek as the brown haired male spoke, “Shut up and kiss me Mullet.” And kiss him, he did. Even with both of their lips being chapped and cracked, it was one of the most amazing experiences of Keith’s life. Their breathing merging, Lance’s arms wrapping around his neck. Every breath of skin that Keith got from Lance set his own skin on fire, his heart was pounding in his chest and his face became hot far quicker than he would have liked to admit.   
It wasn’t his first kiss by any means, but the way Lance dragged his teeth over his lower lip, Keith could have died happily with it being his last. After a moment, Keith gently pulled back, their lips less than an inch apart.   
“Is that a yes?” Lance scoffed quietly in amusement and murmured against the raven haired man’s lips. “Are you drowning?”   
Keith grinned and pressed his lips against Lance’s once more. “It appears I’ve been snagged by the undertow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read this far! I will be bring it to a close soon, thank you so much and still any and all feedback is more than welcome. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 
> 
> Also, I'm awful at fluff and I feel like I rushed it a bit, but I really did try lol. There will be some sex in the next chapter- fair warning if that wasn't why you decided to read this.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll update when I can and will do my best to catch grammatical errors. I'll keep the updates longer as to make up for time between. PLEASE COMMENT tell me what you think! It matters to me! <3


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